UPDATES ON THE WAR – Day 160 (Mar 14th):
*We are one Day 160 (Mar 14th). NO CEASEFIRE PRIOR TO RAMADAN 🙁
Headlines:
- IDF announces terms for West Bank Palestinians’ entry to Temple Mount during Ramadan: Military liaison COGAT says visitors will allowed in for Friday prayers with a permit, limited to children under 10, men over 55, and women over 50
- The U.S. on Saturday (Mar 2nd) carried out its first air-drop of aid using three C-130 planes, two U.S. officials told Reuters. President Joe Biden had confirmed on Friday that the U.S. would drop food aid into Gaza, saying that not enough aid is currently getting in.
- 66 aid bundles were dropped including 38,000 meals, a U.S. official said, in an operation carried out with the Jordanian air force. The bundles did not include water or medical supplies.
- Cease-fire talks continue in Doha and Cairo, but “the situation is complicated,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
- U.S. President Biden is reportedly considering conditioning further military aid to Israel on whether it will carry out an extensive offensive in Gaza’s Rafah.
OUCH:
- The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza said at least 31,184 Palestinians have been killed and 72,889 have been wounded since the start of the war.
- WEST BANK: Hamas calls on the Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as Arab citizens of Israel, “to be alert and ready to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque” on Friday – the beginning of the month of Ramadan and “remain there days and nights.”
YEAH:
- White House Spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. will redouble efforts to open up a maritime corridor for aid into Gaza, adding that “The Israelis have tried air-drops themselves, and they’re supportive of our efforts to do the same.”
- Coalition including the U.S., U.K., UAE and European Commission announces opening of maritime corridor to deliver aid to Gaza by sea.
- For the first time since October 7, trucks carrying aid entered northern Gaza directly from Israel.
IN THE SOUTH (RED SEA):
- CENTCOM said it successfully engaged and destroyed two unmanned aerial systems launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen. A Greek military vessel serving in the EU’s naval mission in the Red Sea repelled two drones, a Greek Defense Staff official said.
- The Netherlands will send a frigate to the Red Sea to participate in international efforts to protect ships against attacks by the Houthis from Yemen.
GAZA (NORTH):
- A ship laden with 200 tons of food set sail from Cyprus to Gaza in a pilot run of a new maritime corridor to be established by the European Commission and other countries. The ship is funded and operated by Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen in partnership with the UAE, Cyprus & Spanish NGO Open Arms.
- The first US military vessel carrying construction supplies to build a temporary dock along the Gazan coast set off from Virginia Saturday, headed toward the Middle East. It marks the first step of a plan to directly deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, announced by President Joe Biden during Thursday’s State of the Union.
- Reports suggest it may take as long as two months and involve as many as 1,000 troops to get to operational status. The territory currently has no functioning port, making ocean delivery of aid nearly impossible, and ground-based deliveries have become increasingly dangerous. Western nations have resorted to airdropping aid into high-population areas. The structure is expected to be a floating pier capable of unloading 2 million meals per day.
GAZA (SOUTH):
- The German Embassy in Israel announced that 68 Palestinian children were evacuated from an orphanage in Rafah southern Gaza to Bethlehem in the West Bank as part of a humanitarian operation, to which Israel agreed.
POST WAR GAZA:
- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas asked his associate, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, to form the next Palestinian government.
- Senior PA officials say that the decision to nominate Dr. Mustafa is still facing reservation from some Arab countries.
IN THE NORTH (LEBANON):
- The IDF confirmed that Hamas member Hadi Ali Mustafa was killed in a strike in southern Lebanon. Fighter jets attacked Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
- More than 100 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon after the IDF struck the Baalbek region.
- Some 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon in the latest barrage on Kiryat Shmona, according to the IDF. It says that at least 10 projectiles were successfully intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system. There are no reports of damage or injuries.
- Hezbollah
JERUSALEM:
- ‘This Is Our Life’s Mission’ | Thousands of Israelis Rally in Jerusalem After Four-day March Calling for Release of Hostages: As talks towards a swap deal are set to resume, thousands of marchers arrived in Jerusalem after setting off from the site of the Oct. 7 Nova Festival massacre four days earlier, demanding the immediate release of the 134 Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
- Relatives of Israelis held captive by Hamas in Gaza blocked the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway by locking themselves in cages placed on the road and torching tires. They said their actions were to remind PM Netanyahu and the Israeli public that “the hostages have been rotting in hell for 154 days” and told Netanyahu: “Bring home those you abandoned.”
TEL AVIV/SOUTHERN ISRAEL:
- Hostages’ families temporarily block Tel Aviv highway
- Hundreds of protesters march from Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv towards the defense headquarters calling for the release of the hostages, holding up torches and posters of the hostages.
- Thousands are protesting at Habima Square in Tel Aviv calling to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces.
WEST BANK:
- U.S. sanctions two West Bank outposts, three settlers and is increasing pressure to eliminate Israeli setter violence against Palestinians.
NEGOTIATIONS – HOSTAGE RELEASE – CEASE FIRE:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told representatives of the hostages currently held in Gaza that there has been a change in Qatar’s pressure on Hamas, though the PM said he couldn’t elaborate on the matter.
- CIA Director William Burns, speaking before the House Intelligence Committee, said that anyone interested in delivering “the kind of humanitarian assistance that is so obviously required” in Gaza, “has an interest in trying” to secure a cease-fire to allow the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
GLOBAL RESPONSE & INVOLVEMENT:
- U.S. Senate Majority Leader calls for new elections in Israel criticizing Netanyahu.
- In response to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s remarks, the Likud party released an announcement that says: “Israel is not a banana republic, but an independent, proud democracy that elected Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
- “In contrast to Schumer’s remarks, the Israeli public supports a total defeat of Hamas, and rejects any international command to establish a Palestinian terrorist state, and returning the Palestinian Authority to Gaza,” it read. The announcement also stated that “the Senator is expected to respect the Israel government and not undermine it.”
- The German Air Force will take part in humanitarian airdrops into Gaza at the request of the foreign ministry, government sources said on Tuesday.
- Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the deaths in Thursday’s incident were “horrific” and called for “an urgent investigation and accountability.” He added that “Israel has an obligation to ensure that significantly more humanitarian aid reaches the people of Gaza.”
- During a visit to Gaza, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant hinted at a potential ground offensive in Rafah, saying: “Those who think we are delaying will soon see that we will reach everywhere.” He added that “there is no safe place…anywhere in the Middle East” for those who orchestrated the October 7 Hamas attack.
*If you would like to gain more understanding of the history of this country and conflict from a scriptural standpoint we recommend you take our Holy Land Scripture Course created to accompany our Virtual Tour of the Holy Land. Link below:
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
What should Israel do in order to secure peaceful borders and relations with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors as well as facilitate the release the hostages still being held in Gaza?
How can the IDF minimize harm to Palestinian civilians when Hamas is using them as shields? And under such circumstances, what is the extent of Israel’s responsibility for minimizing harm to civilians when those civilians have been put in harm’s way by their own leaders?
What should Hamas do to get needed support and help?
Who Should Lead the Palestinians After the Gaza War, and How?
*We know the questions are MANY and the issues deep and complex. We hope the information shared on this blog will help you process all the information and issues.
*If you would like to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications when new posts are made please email Dr. Clark Anderson at clark@andersontours.com
